Nomenclature aside, though,The Village Orchestra/TVO's unique appearance in two such contrasting lists (each stuffed with goodness, mind) underlines how much of a hinterland there is to Ruaridh Law's music - without even getting into his past with the underappreciated Marcia Blaine School for Girls & other projects. One part Drexciya homage-paying techno-lord (both as DJ & artist), one part electronica ground-breaker & one part open-eared adventurer into drone & even noise, his epic Coil to Lil' Louis FACT mix (archived here) exemplifies this uncommon breadth.

So too does the mix's reception. Besides the obvious sources, it won more unexpected appreciation from The Onion AV Club & - yes, really - The New Yorker...

Below, an attempt to capture that breadth (also evident in Ruaridh's judgement on this year's mixes: "a shame so few strayed outside niche genre confines") via a few recent releases - key among them an alternate editof Tober that must rank as one of the most satisfying takes on dub techno in an age (something to do with this version's electronica roots refreshing an increasingly predictable genre, perhaps? Compare Marcia's The Ratio, also below...).